Frostburg (4,1, 3-1 NJAC)
vs.
The College of New Jersey (0-4, 0-3 NJAC)

Saturday, Oct. 17
1:00 pm - Bobcat Stadium

Frostburg Game Notes
Live Stats
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Setting the Scene
Frostburg State hosts The College of New Jersey this Saturday at 1:00 pm on Homecoming. Saturday's matchup is the fifth-consecutive NJAC contest for the Bobcats.

Frostburg enters Saturday's matchup with a 4-1 record and is coming off its third win in NJAC action, a 37-19 victory over William Paterson. FSU is carrying a 1-1 home record into the matchup with TCNJ after losing to No. 5 Wesley (44-3) and downing Kean (29-15).

The season-opening win over Geneva marked the second-most points in a season opener in program history as Frostburg raced out to a 35-0 halftime lead.

Second-year head coach Delane Fitzgerald won his season opener for the second year in a row after guiding the Bobcats to a 4-6 overall record in 2014. He is the only coach in program history to win his first game as the head coach of the Bobcats.

TCNJ has dropped all four games of its 2015 season, including three in NJAC play. Last week, TCNJ dropped a 45-14 game at home to No. 5 Wesley.

The Lions were picked to finish ninth in the NJAC Preseason Coaches Poll.

The Series
Saturday's matchup between the Bobcats and Lions will be just the sixth meeting between the two.

Frostburg leads the series 3-1-1 with the most recent meeting resulting in a 24-21 Frostburg victory at TCNJ in 1994. The last meeting in Frostburg happened a year earlier and the Bobcats downed the Lions 27-16.

Scouting TCNJ
The College of New Jersey has had a rough start to its 2015 season suffering losses in all four games thus far.

The Lions are averaging 323.8 yards in total offense per contest, but are surrendering 513.5 yards on the defensive side of the ball.

TCNJ will rotate a pair of quarterbacks under center as both Michael Marchesano and Trevor Osler have both thrown for three touchdowns and both have appeared in all four games.

Defensively, Martin Flatley and Zach Vasilenko have each posted 27 tackles on the season, while Vasilenko paces the roster with 3.0 tackles for loss.

Head Coach DeLane Fitzgerald
DeLane Fitzgerald is in his second season at the helm of the Frostburg State football program in 2015 and his impact has been immediate. The Bobcats finished 4-6 overall in '14 that included a 2-6 mark in the Empire 8 and a 38-37 double overtime upset of 25th-ranked Ithaca at Bobcat Stadium on Homecoming.

Frostburg didn't just improve in the win/loss column in Fitzgerald's first season, but statically all over the field. The Bobcats finished fifth in the Empire 8 in scoring defense (27.3) and fifth in total defense (359.6). When compared to the final statistics of the 2013 season, the Bobcats allowed 66 fewer first downs, improved their overall total defense by 104.3 yards per contest, allowed 57.3 fewer yards rushing per game and cut opponents' scoring by 17.4 points per game. Frostburg also led the Empire 8 and finished 12th in the nation for fewest turnovers with 12.
 
Fitzgerald also placed an emphasis on blocked kicks where the Bobcats finished 17th in the country and led the Empire 8 with six.
 
The Bobcats capped the season with four All-Empire 8 selections, three on defense, and a USA College Football All-American.

Fitzgerald was a speaker for the American Football Coaches Association (ACFC) in 2014 and was an AFCA Coaching Mentor in both 2014 and 2015.

Fitzgerald's Weekly Quotes
On TCNJ ...
"TCNJ is one of, if not the best coached teams in our conference. Wayne Dickens is a great head coach and offensive coordinator. Rocky Hager is as good a defensive coordinator as there is in the country, and he has four national titles to prove it! They will have their guys ready to play for 60 minutes on Saturday. We have to make sure that we are ready to play also."

On his players and coaches  ...
"Our guys are excited! They are excited for Homecoming, but most of all they are excited to play the next game on our schedule."

"When you win college football games, the next week's game becomes even more important than the last. Our coaches and players have embraced the fact that each week for us is now important. Our players and coaches chose to come to Frostburg to play/coach in important football games and we have put ourselves in a position to do just that."

On his players preparation ...
"The focus this week has been on improving as a football program each day. If we continue to improve each day we will continue to be successful."

Frostburg Football History
Frostburg is in its 55th year of collegiate football in 2015 and the Bobcats have an overall record of 242-275-8. The Bobcats appeared in the 1993 NCAA Playoffs and have played in seven ECAC Bowl Games, the last coming at Bobcat Stadium against Moravian in 2005.

The '15 season marks the first year for the Bobcats as a member of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC). It was announced in March 2014 that Frostburg, along with Christopher Newport, Salisbury and Wesley, would become associate members of the NJAC beginning with the 2015 season. Southern Virginia joined the conference a year earlier in 2014.

The NJAC also contains Rowan, Montclair State, The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), William Paterson and Kean.

Prior to the NJAC, the Bobcats competed in the Empire 8 from 2011-14 and the Atlantic Central Football Conference for 12 seasons from 1999-2010, capturing league titles in 1999, 2003 and 2004.

A Win Would ....
- Lift the Bobcats to 244-275-8 overall
- Mark the first 5-1 start for Frostburg since 1998; the 1999 Bobcats started 6-0
- Push the series to 4-1-1 in favor of the Bobcats
- Be the second consecutive win on Homecoming for Frostburg
- Be the first 3-0 start to the month of October since the 1999 season

Preseason All-Americans
Frostburg has had several players named Preseason Division III All-Americans by USA College Football over the last few years and this summer Frostburg placed three players on the 26th annual All-American list.

Senior defensive back Salaman Riddell led the way after being named a Second Team All-American. Senior linebacker Rowan Pinkett and junior defensive end William Sewell were both placed on the third team.

Riddell finished third last season with 63 tackles and led the team with four pass breakups. A two-time preseason All-American, Pinkett led the Bobcats in tackles for the second-straight season after posting 88 total stops and finishing third in the country with three recovered fumbles. Sewell compiled 67 total tackles and tied for the Empire 8 lead behind 13.5 tackles for loss. He also finished 26th in the country with nine sacks.

All three players earned All-Empire 8 honors following the '14 season.

Speaking of the NJAC
All 10 NJAC schools are in action on the seventh weekend of the fall season and all 10 are in league play. TCNJ at Frostburg opens the weekend at 1:00 pm, while Southern Virginia at Rowan caps the afternoon at 2:00 pm.

Saturday, October 17
TCNJ at Frostburg State - 1:00 pm
Christopher Newport at Montclair State - 1:00 pm
William Paterson at Salisbury - 1:00 pm
Kean at Wesley - 1:00 pm
Southern Virginia at Rowan - 2:00 pm.

NJAC Preseason Poll
The NJAC released the 2015 Preseason Coaches Poll in early August and Frostburg State was picked to finish sixth in the 10-team league. The Bobcats were chosen as the league's dark horse team and were picked ahead of seventh-place Kean, William Paterson (8th), TCNJ (9th) and Southern Virginia (10th). Wesley, ranked fifth in the D3football.com preseason poll, was picked to win the conference after receiving nine of 10 first-place votes. Rowan received one first-place vote and was selected to finish second. Salisbury (3rd), Montclair State (4th) and Christopher Newport (5th) round out the five schools selected ahead of Frostburg.

Special Teams
When head coach DeLane Fitzgerald was hired at Frostburg, he made special teams a point of emphasis and it has showed through his first two seasons. Last season, Frostburg finished 17th in the nation and led the Empire 8 in blocked kicks (6).

Fast forward a year to the 2015 campaign and Frostburg is at it again. The Bobcats are the only school in all four NCAA Divisions (FBS, FCS, II and III) with four punt returns for touchdowns.

The Bobcats are also third in Division III in punt returns (22.67 ypr), seventh in blocked kicks (5), sixth in kickoff return defense (11.62) and12th in defensive TDs (2). FSU leads the NJAC in all four categories.

Individually, senior Roland Kamara is fourth in the nation in blocked kicks (3), while junior Austin Bonsall leads all of Division III with two punt return TDs and is sixth in punt return average (19.1).

More Rankings ...
Following six weeks of the season, Frostburg ranks nationally in several statistical categories. The Bobcats are currently ...

Blocked Kicks (5) - 1st in NJAC ... 7th in DIII
Defensive TDs (2) - 1st in NJAC ... 12th in DIII
Kickoff Return Defense (11.62 ypr) - 1st in NJAC ... 6th in DIII
Kickoff Returns (22.63 ypr) - 1st in NJAC ... 39th in DIII
Punt Returns (22.67 ypr) - 1st in NJAC ... 3rd in DIII
Team Tackles for Loss (8.0) - 1st in NJAC ... 43rd in DIII
Time of Possession (33:08) - 1st in NJAC ... 29th in DIII

Senior Roland Kamara
Blocked Kicks (3) - 1st in NJAC ... 4th in DIII (Kamara finished 21st nationally following the '14 season)

Senior Percy Haskins
Kickoff Returns (24.1) - 1st in NJAC ... 52nd in DIII

Junior Austin Bonsall
Punt Return TDs (2) - 1st in NJAC ... Leads DIII
Punt Returns (19.0) - 2nd in NJAC ... 6th DIII

Senior Myles Burgess & freshman Sergio Andino
Punt Return TDs (1) - 2nd in NJAC ... 3rd in DIII

Last Week
Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015     -     Frostburg 37, William Paterson 19

WAYNE, N.J. – Junior kicker Isaac Robinson booted three field goals, freshman quarterback Connor Cox accounted for three touchdowns and Frostburg State won for the third-consecutive game with a 37-19 victory over William Paterson, Saturday.
 
While the Bobcat offense racked up 353 yards in total offense, behind 211 on the ground, the special teams and defensive units also played a role. Sophomore Aaron Gibson recovered a fumble on the kickoff in the third and freshman Wayne Palmer picked off a pass in the fourth that led to 10 points.
 
"It was a total team win, we made plays at different times in all three phases of the game," said Bobcat head coach DeLane Fitzgerald.
 
Junior William Sewell blocked an extra point in the second quarter, while Robinson was a perfect 3-for-3 on field goals.
 
The win handed Frostburg (4-1, 3-1 NJAC) its first three-game winning streak since the 2005 season and equals last year's win total with five games left on the schedule. The loss drops William Paterson to 1-4 overall and 0-4 in the league and is the fourth-straight defeat for the Pioneers.
 
The duo of Cox and Robinson totaled 34 points on the afternoon. Cox finished 13-for-16 with 142 yards and two scored, while running for another 61 yards and a touchdown.
 
"Connor did a nice job of managing the offense in the first half, then in the second half he played his best football so far this year," said Fitzgerald.
 
Cox twice found senior wideout Myles Burgess for touchdowns in the second half. They connected on a 43-yard pitch-and-catch early in the third quarter and again for a four-yard score early in the fourth.
 
Following Cox's first touchdown toss to Burgess, Gibson recovered the fumble on the ensuing kickoff, setting up a Cox 19-yard touchdown three plays later.
 
Robinson booted his first field goal late in the first quarter, a 32-yarder, and sophomore tailback Jordan Brown scampered 41 yards for a score early in the second for a 10-0 Frostburg cushion.
 
WPU's Nick Burke hauled in a three-yard pass for a touchdown at 11:32 in the second to narrow the deficit to 10-6 as Sewell got a hand on the extra-point attempt. Robinson connected on his second field goal (25 yards) with no time remaining on first half clock as FSU led 13-6.
 
William Paterson briefly tied the contest early in the third at 13-13, but it was all Frostburg after that as Cox had a hand in three-straight touchdowns as the Bobcats grabbed a 34-13 edge. Robinson booted a 25-yard field goal midway through the fourth and the Pioneers added a final touchdown inside the final minute of action for the 37-19 final.
 
Burgess finished with four catches for 56 yards and two scores, while Brown ran eight times for 59 yards and his first quarter TD.
 
Defensively, senior linebacker Rowan Pinkett led the Bobcats in tackles for the second-straight week. He finished with eight total stops and 0.5 TFLs. Sewell added seven stops, 1.0 TFL and a block.